The Great Christmas Breakfast Debate

When I was a kid, every Christmas morning my mom would make a huge batch of hot cocoa and a towering pile of buttered toast. And that was breakfast. Cocoa and toast. Simple, but I loved it. I still do. But when I got married, that was one of the first Christmas traditions to go out the window. See, my husband tolerates hot chocolate and considers toast an accompaniment to breakfast, not the main course. So, while a cup of hot cocoa and a couple slices of toast might do for an average Tuesday morning, it certainly wouldn’t do for Christmas breakfast.

As much as I loved my mom’s Christmas breakfast tradition, I have to say I agree that it should be something a little more special. Now 13 years and four children later, we still haven’t settled on that one perfect breakfast. Here are a few of the options we’ve tried.

Everybody loves this one. I’ve made it several times now. The only think keeping this not-too-sweet breakfast cake from rocketing to the top of the list is the fact that fresh blueberries are hard to find in December. I’ve made it with frozen blueberries and it works, but it isn’t as good. The frozen blueberries don’t mix well into the batter without turning the whole thing purple and the frozen berries are more tart, so they don’t work as well in the lightly sweetened cake. Still on the list though, because it is a family favorite.

Candidate #3: Cinnamon Scones

I don’t have a photo of these one because I haven’t made them in a while. I use the Simple Scones recipe from Allrecipes and modify it a little bit. I leave out the raisins and add a teaspoon of vanilla and a half teaspoon of cinnamon. Then instead of plain sugar on the top, I sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar. Pioneer Woman also has a recipe for cinnamon scones that sounds good, but very sweet.

This is the photo from Confessions of a Former Couch Potato, the source of the recipe. Mine didn’t look anything like that. I know I did a couple different things wrong. First, I forgot to put the bacon on top til after it was baked. Second, I baked it too long. But see how she hers has this nice bread layer on the bottom and then a cheesy gooey layer on top? Mine didn’t work like that. The bread floated to the top and the eggs went to the bottom, and the cheese just cooked on top of the bread. I don’t know what happened. I’m still drooling over her photo though, so I think I’m going to have to try it again.

Hi Tricia! Any Christmas breakfast ideas for families with egg-allergic kids? We have a 3-year-old son with egg allergies. I want to make something special for Christmas morning, but I honestly can’t think of anything that is egg-free!

Great ideas! I have struggeled with the same thing. We always did cinnamon rolls growing up and my husband wanted more. I have tried many different things as well. Mostly egg casseroles because that is what he loves. I may have to try out some of your ideas, they look so yummy!

In Australia, we have church Christmas morning – early. Being a Pastor’s kid, an early Christmas service = extra early arrival time for set-up. We ALWAYS did gifts before we left, so breakfast was never a big thing. Usually it was something from our candy sacks and/or grabbing from the pile of Christmas cookies & other sweets.
So, after marrying an American and moving over here, I discovered a very different set-up! 10years later it still feels weird that we don’t go to church Christmas morning(except Sundays), but I have to admit I love the laid back, lazy way our Christmas mornings unfold, and I love being able to make a special Christmas breakfast. Seeing as I didn’t have any Christmas morning traditions to bring “to the table”, we worked with what my hubby wanted to keep from his childhood, and have added a few things over years to make it our own. 🙂
We have Sausage Souffle, which you make up the day/night before, and stick it in the oven in the morning to bake while we have our devotional time and unwrap gifts. We also have Christmas Cranberry Rolls, which I shape into a Christmas tree and bake like that while we’re digging into the souffle. All of the prep work for these is done the night before, too.
God has blessed us with a daughter who doesn’t like cranberries now, so this year I’ve been trying to think of something sweet to add to the menu that doesn’t have cranberries. The Cinnamon Scones may be just the thing I’ve been looking for – thanks for posting!

Thank you for sharing a bit about what Christmas morning was like in Australia. I think church on Christmas morning sounds great! But I can imagine it would be a bit difficult on the pastor and his family. I love the idea of having one sweet & one savory option for breakfast. Both of those sound wonderful!

Rebecca, that breakfast sounds delicious! I’m generally not a fan of breakfast casseroles either. But I am not very good at traditional breakfast. Too many things going on at once. By the time we sit down to eat, the eggs are cold, the toast is burnt, the bacon is greasy, and the kitchen looks like a bomb went off! I think it is wonderful that you can pull that together for your family 🙂

I love it! =) They all sound delicious!
My mom always made scrambled eggs and those prepared Pillsbury cinnamon rolls. Even though I’m much more of a “foodie” now after 22 years of marriage, I still make that because 1) my kids tend to cling to tradition (even things I don’t consider “tradition” but that we’ve done over and over on certain holidays…. it’s tradition to them) and 2) it’s fast and easy, gives you a little protein with your carbs, and the Pillsbury rolls always come out well! (Unless you leave them in the oven too long…. =)

I am still struggling over this issue…Sweet breakfasts seem to launch my kids into hyper and then crash zone, hardy breakfasts seem to go uneaten until they are cold and then a re-heat in the microwave doesn’t seem to revive them. I still can’t find that perfect Christmas Morning breakfast.

We used to have Morton donuts every Christmas morning growing up. I’ve tried finding the recipe, but no luck. We do homemade sausage balls. We like ours a bit spicy so we use the hot sausage. You can use jelly to cut the spicy for those who don’t like hot. I like them because they are NOT sweet. I don’t like sugar in the morning!

Hi! Thanks for linking to my blog and I am sorry the breakfast casserole didn’t turn out! 🙁 Here are a few things to try. Make sure you put all the cheese on top of the bread before pouring in the milk and eggs. That helps to weigh down the bread. I also try and slowly pour in the milk and eggs so that it gives it time to soak into the bread. Definitely sprinkle the bacon before baking. Good luck finding the perfect holiday breakfast! 🙂

Hi! We have a lazy Christmas morning usually. I prepare a sausage casserole with fresh cut up fruit on the side, which I prepare the night before. Pillsbury crescent rolls are a good yummy base for lots of casseroles. This one is simple with 1 lb. of sausage(precooked)6 eggs and 2 cups of cheese, with 1/4 milk and salt and pepper to taste. And 1 can of crescents rolls on bottom.And this a simple yummy breakfast for up to 6 people.

I always make overnight cinnamon rolls. We just pop them in the oven when the kids get up to open their stockings. I get fruit to serve with it (usually Costco berries) and if we want protein we’ll add bacon or breakfast sausage.

I always did Overnight Sticky Buns. Think cinnamon rolls baked on a layer of pecans and a mix of brown sugar, honey, butter and a smidge of corn syrup to make it extra gooey. When done baking, you dump them out upside down and the yummies ooze down inside the cinnamon rolls. SO good! My recipe is from Good Housekeeping Baking.

For the last 14 years I have made Creme Brûlée French toast. It’s put together the night before, bakes while we open stockings. Over the years I have adapted it to be gluten and dairy free. We have bacon and sausage–because it’s Christmas! And fresh juice. We started out with orange, but after a rather nasty Christmas migraine for my hubby we switched to apple. It’s the only time of year our juicer comes out of the cabinet! I like having a set menu so I don’t have to reinvent the wheel every year.

My husband always makes us his scrumptious buttermilk waffles for Christmas breakfast. Some of us top them with vanilla bean ice cream. This year I plan to also make buttermilk syrup. We have crispy bacon on the side.

I bake sour cream coffee cake based on a recipe from my great aunt. We also enjoy a fruit Christmas tree (I use a styrofoam cone and attach fruit to it with toothpicks and mint leaves), frittata, and mimosas (or sparkling apple juice). Our Christmas breakfast tradition is a big deal around here. Growing up, we had panettone purchased from Williams-Sonoma. It is divine when toasted with a little butter. I try to prep the coffee cake and make the tree the day before so my morning isn’t spent in the kitchen.

We have cinnamon rolls and bacon. Simple but special for us. The bacon helps balance the sugary sweetness of the cinnamon rolls. We used to have scrambled eggs too but my youngest is allergic (like can’t tolerate us cooking them without itching and a runny nose). I make the cinnamon rolls (from scratch is the only option because we are gluten and egg free) on the 23rd and leave them covered in the fridge to rise. Put them in the oven Christmas morning and just cook the bacon. I usually make some hot chocolate and, of course, coffee. I always have some icing leftover from something around Christmas for us to slather on them. It’s quick and easy that morning.

My husband brought Monkey bread to our Christmas morning menu. He enlists the kids to help him make it. And we only eat it on this one day of the year.
None of the other sides I can make really matter because making the Monkey Bread with dad takes the cake.